The drawing of the 24 by 36 inch sign honoring the work of Robbie Blake, founder of Bronson’s recreation park, and her original board members is shown here. The sign won’t be erected in time for the 7 p.m. July 4th ceremony at James H. Cobb Park honoring Blake and her board, but could arrive by Friday. The fireworks show starts at 9 p.m.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
The Bronson Town Council is planning to erect a 24 by 36 inch sign at James H. Cobb Park honoring its founder, Robbie Blake, and the board that helped her, but one of the discussions by the council wasn’t held in an open meeting.
Town Clerk Shirley Miller said she picked out the size of the sign and worked on the wording and eventually sent council members emails asking them if they approved of the wording and the dimensions.
“Once I got the details we wanted I sent it to the council to say agreeable? Yes. Everybody,” she said.
Asked a short time later in the interview if the sign’s dimensions and wording were ever discussed publicly in a meeting, Miller said, “No, the dimensions and what was going to be said, that specifically wasn’t in a meeting. That we did behind the scenes.”
The council had voted earlier in a public meeting to approve honoring the women, but the initial discussions revolved around mounting a plaque in the park. The plaque was changed to a sign at some point, but not in a meeting.
Mayor Robert Partin referred to the women being honored with a plaque at Tuesday’s Bronson Town Council meeting. Apparently he didn’t know the plaque was changed to a sign, or forgot about it.
The women will officially be honored at the park at 7 p.m. on July 4, two hours before the fireworks display. The sign won’t be in place by then. Miller said there were so many rewrites to the wording that the sign won’t be here for the ceremony.
Florida’s Sunshine Law says decisions by elected boards can only be made in advertised public meetings. The public must be given a chance to hear what is being said and offered an opportunity to comment before a decision is made.
The law doesn’t allow clerks or city managers or superintendents to email, text or call elected board members to poll them on how they feel about an issue. Electronically polling elected boards is considered a meeting in itself and a violation of the open meetings law.
When one elected board member leans over to whisper to another during a board meeting out of hearing range of the public, it can be considered a separate mini-meeting since the public didn’t hear what was being said.
But in small towns and small counties the Sunshine law often has an elastic quality that makes it stretch to fit the occasion, or so it seems.
The question in this case, was why did the town council members believe this particular size sign was appropriate for honoring Blake and Bronson Recreation Association Board members Edith Brown Nancy Bell, Ada Marie Keeton and Harriet Wilson, and why wasn’t it discussed in a publicly advertised meeting.
The news media is often scorned by elected officials for even raising Sunshine issues. Many elected officials complain privately that they are constrained from conducting business the way it should be conducted – in private.
Few elected officials are ever prosecuted for violating the Sunshine Law, at least in Levy County. The town council might be relatively safe in that regard if state prosecutors ever investigate and actually determine there was a Sunshine Law violation.
But the press has a right to discuss the issue publicly.
The press is the public’s eyes and ears.
Even small decisions by elected boards must be discussed publicly.
End of story.
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Enterprise Reporting; Town of Bronson Posted July 2, 2019
